Setting out on her own,
a small town news reporter.

She aims to bring integrity,
or at least some sense of order.

START

Clara lives in a high-density residential area. Land is scarce. Developers, aggressive. Construction surrounds the park beside her apartment. Walking through, a simple idea occurs to Clara. Parks are for people.

That idea becomes a campaign promise. On that promise, she runs for city council of Port Spindrift. She runs on integrity. And wins!

Soon after the election, a large corporation pitches her an offer. A high-paying job, guaranteed. It’s there after her term of office ends. Right now, in return, they want her support. Vote to let them build a casino in the area.

Refuse because the deal harms the environment? Refuse the offer because it breaks her campaign promise? Take the deal and use the money for other good works?

Clara was raised on principles. Treat a promise as a contract. A campaign promise is a contract with the people. She declines the offer from the corporation.

The new business of city council concerns a by-law called Right to Fight. Right to Fight would ban fight clubs except in casinos. Clara’s constituents oppose the ban. They don’t like fighting, but like restrictions personal freedom even less. Pugilism is between consenting adults.

Another councillor says he’s going to opt out and attend a good movie on the day of the vote. That’s a cop out, of course. Clara feels a duty to be honest with others and with herself and, personally, she sees fist fighting as barbaric.

Hold meetings to educate her constituents? Vote for the ban on grounds of conscience? Vote against the ban to represents the will the of the majority?

Fighting goes against her sensibilities. Clara votes to ban pugilism, reasoning that what is repulsive is wrong. Not everyone who voted for her agrees and she takes a hit in the polls. A hit noticed by a land development lobby.

The population of Port Spindrift has remained the same for generations. To expand, council is considering rezoning. One lobby argues that ugly is evil. The development will bring fast food chains, billboards, row housing, and neon malls. More people, more pollution.

Another lobby argues that the development is good since it will be useful. It will bring business, which brings jobs. Jobs means tax money for public services, such as police, schools, and hospitals.

Decide against development since ugly is evil? Decide decide against development since there is no pressing need? Vote for development to increase tax revenue?

Still, Clara decides against the development rezoning. That brings her back up in the polls. Riding a wave of popularity, Clara decides to run for mayor. Her campaign focuses on environmental protection. Clara introduces a by-law. It will stop the local paper mill from dumping of sludge into the lagoon.

Mill representatives urge her to withdraw the proposed by-law. The town depends on the mill for employment and tax revenue. When interviewed, Clara tells the reporter ...

She made a promise and keeps her promises? Everyone benefits from a clean environment? The mill is not an elected representative of the people?

Clara tells the reporter that she made a promise, a contract with her constituents. She aims to keep her promises. Besides, it doesn’t mean the mill can’t continue. They can’t continue polluting.

The owner of the mill is cousin to the editor of The Caption, the town’s local newspaper. The editor has taken aim at Homer as a way of getting at Clara.

Homer was in the same graduating class as Clara. A local baseball hero before leaving for college. He returned to his hometown and Clara wants him to run for town council. As the campaign winds down, it is clear that Homer could upset the incumbent.

The editor of The Caption tells Homer to drop out of the race. There’s a rumour that Homer took performance enhancing drugs during his sports years. It isn’t true, but Homer suspects the scandal will harm his parents. His folks still live in this small town and run an art supply store.

Clara urges Homer to ...

Drop out of the race citing family responsibilities? Stay in the race since many people are counting you? Stay in the race and fight for your principles?

Principles are important to Clara. Fight the good fight. She urges Homer to stay in the race. To stick with his principles.

It is a bitter lesson. The public, influenced by a series of editorials in The Caption, vote against Homer. Sometimes being right is not enough.

That same lesson arises not long after the election. Doris Open worked hard on the campaign of a candidate of Homer’s rival, Polly Tickle. Polly promised Doris a summer research job if Polly is elected. Doris later overheard Polly accept excessive campaign contributions from a land developer. Now she wishes she had campaigned for Homer. She tells him so when they meet for a coffee.

Homer encourages Doris to ...

Take the job and try to convince the candidate to clean up his act? Take the job and keep quiet? Refuse the job and tell the press why?

Despite his own loss, Homer urges Doris to be honest with the public about what she knows. Turn down the job and tell the press why. Compel The Caption to investigate one of their own. She does. They do.

Meanwhile, mayor Clara Phi wants to balance environmental protection with downtown renewal. Her main opposition is a councillor whose family own a shopping plaza. They would likely lose business to a revitalized downtown. A tax break to the family of the counsellor may make the opposition disappear.

Bend a little because a tax break could help everyone? Use the media to smear the councillor? Stand your ground since a tax break would be unfair?

Clara resolves to stand her ground. No tax break for the counsellor’s family. As a result, the councillor votes to stall the downtown renewal project.

Members of Clara’s political party are not so pleased. Many believe downtown renewal was worth a bit of favouritism. They tell her a good result sometimes justifies the way we achieve it.

In the autumn Clara receives a federal cabinet position offer — provided she switches to the party in power whose policies she now favours. The people in Clara’s district voted against that party as much as they voted for Clara.

Stay with her party and keep trying for change? Change parties and run for re-election in a different district? Switch parties and follow her conscience?

Clara follows her conscience and accepts the federal position. If politics is the art of influence, she will be more effective in a supporting environment. And so it unfolds, for Clara. In time, from cabinet position to the office of National Leader.

As leader of the nation, Clara has a chance to pass an historic act. It will recognize the long-denied rights of minorities. She needs the votes of a certain bloc of representatives. They will only support her bill if they are promised government-funded projects for their districts. It sounds like the land developer scenario all over.

Buy their votes since the gain in rights is worth it? Go public about the bloc and label the bloc as shameful? Conduct the vote without buying support?

As before, Clara sticks to her principles. People are not a means to our ends. The vote proceeds without buying support. The bloc holds firm and the bill does not pass.

Public outcry against the bloc weakens their influence. At the same time, it strengthens support for Clara. Good timing, since international concerns are heating up.

Intelligence sources tell Clara there may be war: one neighbour nation taking over another neighbour. Clara’s citizens support candidates who promise to keep troops at home. To safeguard her re-election, Clara must promise not to go to war. Yet she knows she will likely have to break that promise.

Make the promise since politicians seldom keep them anyway? Promise not to go to war and keep that promise? To be consistent, decline to make the promise?

Members of the press want her to say for certain whether she will or won’t involve their nation in war. Clara declines to make a promise. What isn’t promised, isn’t broken.

Disgruntled reporters start digging into Clara’s background. They discover a break-in to the headquarters of the opposing political party. That was during the last national election campaign.

Clara did not order the break-in, but she knew of it and did not take action to stop it. A scandal may hurt her image. It may hinder her ability to be ready in the event war breaks out between neighbour nations.

Admit the truth to the public? Get her support staff to take the blame? Cover it up since the public interest will be better served?

In a televised interview, Clara admits that she was aware of the break-in and did not stop it. The mistake is hers as leader of the nation. Polls show the public approves of her coming clean, accepting responsibility.

Clara’s opponents want her to resign. They start the process of impeachment over the break-in incident. Public hearings begin. With limited ability to influence and war pending between border nations, Clara steps-down to allow her vice-leader take over during the impeachment proceeding.

Her vice-leader is Paul Ticks. Picked as a compromise to ensure election, he is a member of the opposing party. The opposition believes in doing what makes most people happy.

An open vote on capital punishment is pending in the legislature. The citizens of Spindrift want capital punishment returned. Paul is against the death penalty. The vote will be close, so his choice may decide the result. Vice-leader, even as interim leader, casts a vote if the legislature is deadlocked.

Follow your conscience and vote against? Abstain on the vote? Follow the wishes of the people who elected him?

The majority want capital punishment back. That would make most people happy. Paul votes in favour of capital punishment even though he is against it by conscience.

Clara’s career does not survive the impeachment. She resigns and retires to her home town. There she raises Golden Retrievers and writes a blog on The Art of the Possible.

Before Paul was sworn to office, he was asked to reveal any business dealings which might be considered a conflict of interest. Paul did not see the shares that he held in some companies to be a problem.

Now, however, an investigation has revealed that one company has extensive dealings with a federal department that Paul administered. There is pressure for Paul to follow Clara and resign.

Resign due to the conflict of interest? Apologize, but stay on since he has done no harm? Resign immediately, but run for re-election?

Paul believes we are free to do as we please as long as we do not harm others. He has done no harm and stays on. The apology appeases the public; they aren’t happy about it, but accept it.

Paul’s government, wanting the most for its money, has decided that more lives can be saved if money now going into kidney dialysis programs is spent on a highway safety campaign.

Constance Struggle, leader of the opposition party, knows that the argument has merit, but every day she receives messages from constituents who will be hurt if dialysis support is reduced. Constance considers whether to vote for or against the budget change.

For, since more people will benefit? For the budget, then switch parties? Against, it uses innocent lives as means to an end?

Constance is a member of Polly’s party and, for them, duty comes before utility. She votes against. People are not tools; a means to an end.

But this is the end. Replay?